‘Sleepy Hollow’ recap: Where the wild things are

by byte clay

Do you feel that, Sleepy Heads? Those are the pangs of Ichabod Crane deficiency. It felt like Tom Mison had five minutes of screen time and that isn’t nearly enough. We love us some Abbie Mills, but we love Ichabbie even more. His surprising absence left us aching with a severe case of Crane on the Brain. Granted, he was there when it counts most, proving once more that he will always have Abbie’s back. Despite Crane’s absence, “Into the Wild” provided a few surprising revelations that will surely play a big role as the finale approaches. As we’ve come to expect, everything is not as it seems in the world of “Sleepy Hollow.” Here we go!

Crane meets with Dr. Peter Cranston (a nearby scholar/researcher) to help figure out the nature of The Hidden One’s symbol/artifact, while Abbie attends an FBI team-building survival retreat in the woods. It is always great to see girl power on TV and Team Witness now has it in spades with the addition of Agent Sophie Foster (Jessica Camacho). We already know the Sisters Mills kick ass, but Sophie has proven to be a valuable asset. It is especially convenient to have another person with inside “intel” on Abbie’s FBI team when a monster threatens innocent lives during their work retreat.

The agents are split into groups. Tour guide Robbie leads Abbie, Sophie, and last minute substitute team member, Reynolds, into the woods. Awkward alert! When a mysterious creature attacks Robbie, Sophie and Abbie must tend to this supernatural matter without raising Reynolds’ suspicions. Obviously, that’s easier said than done, but the ladies pull it off pretty well. They eventually let Reynolds go out for medical help, while they hang back with Robbie in a remote cabin.

Speaking of Reynolds…what is his deal? Before he heads out, he has a rather abrasive exchange with Abbie. She harkens back to his confession of love and admits that he isn’t the only one who still feels warm and fuzzy about the possibility of rekindling that old flame. Okay, so we’re not thrilled to hear Abbie say such things because of our Ichabbie high hopes. However, Reynolds’ response is still upsetting and troubling. He snippily shuts her down saying he is simply following orders from above. He doesn’t care if she chooses to leave the FBI. He convinced her to stay because it was his job to do so. Burn!

Geesh, Reynolds, what gives?! This outburst gets us extra worried about his shady boss, Agent Jack Walter. The guy unflinchingly murdered Nevins and has been obsessively keeping tabs on Abbie. Walter will undoubtedly cause big trouble before the season’s end. Bottom line: Walter is up to no good and Reynolds has now entered the shady zone himself with this bewildering behavior. Does Reynolds know about the Nine Sacred Sights Walter is searching for? Is he aware of Abbie’s secret supernatural life and he’s upset that she isn’t telling him the truth? Things took a turn with Reynolds in this episode, so we’re keeping our guards up with him from now on. Okay, back to the monster problem.

With a little bit of luck (like finding a very informative journal upstairs in the cabin) and Sophie’s impressive archeological knowledge, we get the lo-down on this creepy and cringe-worthy monster who crawled out of an abandoned well lined with a Dutch inscription. We discover that the 400 year-old Verslinder (which is Dutch for “devourer”) is kind of like a parasitic worm or bacterial infection. Abbie realizes that Robbie can be treated with some home-made penicillin. Fortunately, the woods have just the right ingredients they need to do the trick. Before, we saw worms crawling out of Robbie’s gruesome wound. After a dose of antibiotics, the little worms shrivel up. The ER doctors will be able to take care of all his other injuries. Let’s just hope he doesn’t need a trip to Tarrytown to ease the nightmares he’ll have after his haunting Verslinder encounter. However, Abbie and Sophie need to kill the creature to make sure that Robbie remains completely monster-free.

Abbie and Sophie split up and try tracking it down before it hurts anybody else. While they close in on the monster, Crane discovers something very surprising about The Hidden One’s symbol. Dr. Cranston shows Crane that the object actually splits into two pieces and shares a magnetic natural bond. Interesting! What’s even cooler is that each half fits an indentation on the back of Ichabod’s ancestral tablets. When the symbol is attached to the tablet, Crane is able to see Abbie in a spherical projection. Awesome! That’s when he realizes the Leftenant is in trouble.

Crane appears in the nick of time and kills the creature just as it is about to attack Abbie. Woohoo! Go Ichabbie. Look at Crane stepping up and taking out the Verslinder like a badass. Now that’s the kind of bond we’re talking about. Another win for Team Witness and they managed to keep Reynolds in the dark about their supernatural escapades. Naturally, Sophie, Abbie and Ichabod aren’t the only ones who have a close call with the dark side.

Joe and Jenny attend a black market auction and spend a million bucks acquiring a missing piece of Pandora’s Box. The online consensus is that Joe Millionaire got his mullah from August Corbin’s secret Swiss bank accounts that Nevins told him about, as well as the cargo of cash they got from Randall after he met his ill-fated demise at the hands of the Ghoul. They piss off a couple of other bidders, one of which is Hans. The stereotypical baddie tries threatening Joenny for the box when its rightful owner intercedes. That’s right! Pandora crashes the party and wants her box back so she can make it whole and restore her magical mojo. Here’s where things take an unexpected turn.

Joe holds onto the box fragments and steps in to protect Jenny from Pandora’s vengeful wrath. Suddenly, the box bits awaken the beast within and WendiJoe makes an appearance. What?! We thought he was cured. Guess the beast was just dormant all of this time. Joe’s transformation is enough to spook Pandora away, so Team Witness maintains possession of the box. On the down-side, Joe is freaking out over this revelation.

Young Corbin is worried that he’s still a monster and he doesn’t want to put Jenny in harm’s way. Jenny reassures him that there is nothing to worry about. He’s in control and there is nothing monstrous about him…as long as he doesn’t touch Jenny’s stuff. Team Witness will just have to figure out how to cast out the Wendigo for good. Until then, Joe has it under wraps. They just have to keep him away from Pandora’s Box fragments. Poor Joe, you can’t blame him for being freaked-out by all of this. Hopefully there’ll be a way to totally cure him of the Wendigo. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Honestly, this may not have been one of “Sleepy Hollow’s” most enjoyable episodes, but it still delivered some solid moments. Sophie and Abbie really forged a strong friendship and working relationship. It was fascinating to see how their differing past experiences and outlooks on the supernatural brought them both to this place at the same time, fighting evil side-by-side. Sophie was eager to encounter the mystical world and learn more about the mysterious force that took her parents. Abbie has always felt cursed by the supernatural because it has caused so much pain and suffering by taking so many things away from her family. Sophie helps her see all the good that has entered her life because of it, most notably, Ichabod Crane. If it wasn’t for her childhood trauma and her role as a Witness, Abbie would never have encountered Crane. Let’s face it, he’s arguably the best thing that’s happened to her. Even Sophie can see that. She must be on Team Ichabbie, right?!

In the end, Ichabod really says it best, “Sometimes the things we think will hurt us, will actually save us.” He’s not just talking about The Hidden One’s symbol, which they assumed to be evil, but it actually turned out to be a helpful tool for the Witnesses. Like in all epic tales, the greatest heroes are challenged. They endure pain before overcoming darkness and embracing the light. All the loss and tragedy makes Team Witness even stronger. They just need to have faith and keep fighting.

What did you think, Sleepy Heads? What were your favorite moments from this episode? Were you surprised to see WendiJoe? Did you enjoy the Sophie-Abbie bonding moments? Are you also suspicious of Reynolds and his sudden attitude? Do you believe he knows more about Abbie than he lets on? Are you surprised to learn that The Hidden One’s symbol can actually be helpful to the Witnesses? Share your thoughts below and on Twitter (@TalkTVwTiffany).